Lots of really interesting issues around this in the post and comments. It seems we would all like to be open about ourselves and express our opinions freely in the real and virtual worlds, but we come across barriers to this or realisations that make us nervous as the technologies and communities develop.
I wonder if the blurring between professional and personal has been as a result of technology or just increased by it (probably the latter). Either way, there’s a significant generation of us who share this inclination and it can make for a much richer work life and contributes to a confusing concept of work/life balance.
I guess it comes down to feeling passionate about work, which seems to be much more common than it used to. I suspect that easy access to so much more information and opinion has helped to fuel that and of course we have so many ways to broadcast, share our thoughts and find others who agree or stimulate discussion of alternative views.
So many fascinating avenues to explore and never enough time to do them justice!